It poured Thanksgiving morning during the FirstLight Federal Credit Union Sun Bowl Parade, but the show went on anyway.

A drizzly morning gave way to a deluge just as the first float passed the starting line Thursday.

The rain put a damper on some performances, but the marching bands still played with fervor and a thoroughly chilled and slightly subdued crowd still smiled, cheered and snapped selfies as the parade passed by.

The flashy floats gleamed against the dreary sky, reflecting this year’s theme of extraordinary inventions. There were the Wright brothers’ flight, Leonardo da Vinci’s creations, the Ferris wheel, a selfie float and more.

A handful of families gave in to the rain, packing up their chairs, blankets and kids and heading home, but most braved the steady precipitation to watch the show.

Photos: Rain Drenched Parade a Success

The 79th annual event was expected to draw as many as 250,000 people.

For many El Paso families, attending the parade is a decades-long tradition passed down from parents to children to grandchildren.

Eight-year-old Anthony Mata has been coming to the parade for years. He and parents Tony Mata and Jessica Delgado huddled under car sun shades as light rain fell before the parade.

"It's just a tradition for him," Delgado said, looking at Anthony. "He already told us this morning, ‘When you guys die, I'm gonna keep the tradition.’"

The trio of designated space-savers got up at 2:30 a.m. to stake out their spot, near the truck filled with provisions that Tony Mata had parked just off Montana Avenue the night before.

Anthony said he likes the whole parade and doesn't have a favorite part.

"He never wakes up so fast for school, but for this he does," Delgado said.

Down the street, tucked in an alley between Ochoa and Virginia streets, a family of Dallas Cowboys fans munched on burritos just past the parade starting line. Sisters JoAnna and Erica Lopez said the group stakes out the same spot every year, strategically located right at the start of the route so they can pack up as soon as the last float drifts by and head home to the Cowboys game.

"It's a tradition," Erica Lopez said.

For other families, this year's parade was the start of a new custom.

Jessica Slayton has lived in El Paso for 21 years but has never attended the parade, thinking it's easier to enjoy on TV from the comfort of home.

"He's been harping on me for years to come," Slayton said, looking at her husband, William.

He attended the parade every year as a kid.

"Rain, snow — we were always here," he said.

With a family of their own, the couple decided to join the crowds this year and watch the parade from front-row seats on Montana Avenue with their 11-year-old twins, Hope and Faith, and their 7-year-old nephew, Elijah Tejeda.

"Now that I have a family, I feel like I need to start passing down some sort of traditions for them," Jessica Slayton said, looking at the kids snuggled up in folding chairs.

The parade’s grand marshals this year were members of the national champion 1996 Texas Western – now the University of Texas at El Paso – basketball team and their families.

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the team’s historic win, coached to glory by the legendary Don Haskins. The players’ appearance is part of a slew of celebrations planned to honor the team over the coming months.

"It's great to be back," No. 42 David Lattin said at a press conference before the parade. "I love the people of El Paso and everything about El Paso."

Flournoy Jr. suffered a stroke earlier this year, but "everyone's pulling for him and praying for him and a speedy recovery," his son Flournoy III said.

Fifty years after the championship, "it still looks good," Cager said. "I'm proud of everything that we were trying to do and trying to get done."

"Let's do it again," he later added.

The championship is the only one in program history and the only Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship won by a Texas school.

The victory also helped break down racial barriers. Texas Western started five black players against Kentucky’s all-white starters, with a largely white crowd, referees, coaches and officials.

Fred Loya light show kicks off Friday

The game helped elevate integration and "send segregation down the road," Lattin said. "We're happy to be a part of that."

Tina Hill knew the team during the victorious year, and they were like brothers, she said.

"The beauty of it, besides the team, is they were a family," she said.

Michelle Hill said she knew about her father’s championship growing up but her humble dad was a good father first and foremost. It wasn't until she attended UTEP that she fully understood the significance of the team's win, she said.